Dingo in a camper will eat your baby.

[Zil]

story from Brisbane Times news site. click: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/na...mpervan-on-fraser-island-20190419-p51fjx.html

 

[cyndi]

I wonder if the dingoes are breeding with feral dogs. We've had the same problem in the US with coyote and wolves.

Or someone has released their pet dingo into the wild.
that's been a problem in the US, as well.

 

[tx2sturgis]

If something like that happened here in the US, I bet CPS would swoop in and take the child, claiming it's the parents fault.

Speaking of that, how in the hell did the dingo get into the camper when the parents were sleeping? Open door policy I guess?

:huh:

 

[Seminole Wind]

there was another dingo stole my baby story from down under a while back. if i recall the authorities didnt believe the parents right off and suspected abouse. i forget how that one turned out.

things are different down under. dingos, i believe i read somewhere are basically feral domestic dogs that have naturalized over the last hundred years or so. not some native canine like a wolf... anyone got the scoop?

 

[flying kurbmaster]

That is not exactly it, dingos are a wild animal like a wolf however their breeding with domesticated dogs over the years have seen the original dingo being bred almost out of existence is my understanding. The dingo that stole the baby a while back late 80’s I think, was the Chamberlains they were convicted of murder, then with new evidence a few years later were released, pardoned and compensated.

 

[Seminole Wind]

looks like i was off a few thousand years. turns out dingos go back 3500-4000 years down under. genetically descended from an asian wolf. highly suspected to have been introduced intentionally/accidentally as domesticated animals by ancient seafarers. interesting read

 

[Ticklebellly]

Seems the camping setup was a Camper Trailer and the "door" is a canvas flap not sealed along the bottom. Dogs, or dingo in this case, simply put a nose under and push through. Dingos are known to scavenge and will enter tents and caravans to steal a feed. Have had them walk through the campsite many times while sitting around the fire having a quiet drink. Friend had a pillow taken from under his head in the night once while sleeping in a swag in a stretcher.

The dingos on Frazer Island are reputed to be the most pure examples in Australia due mostly to the isolation of the island and the island's status as a National Park. Dingos do not belong to the dog genus. Reputed to have been brought to the Australian mainland across the land bridge around 25,000 years ago, although one theory puts their arrival much later.

The Lindy Chamberlain story was made into a movie some time ago with a terribly miscast Meryl Streep in the lead role.

 

[highdesertranger]

I need an Australian to American translation, what's a "swag"? highdesertranger

 

[Cammalu]

Sealed with a kiss? [emoji16]

 

[Seminole Wind]

  Dingos do not belong to the dog genus.   Reputed to have been brought to the Australian mainland across the land bridge around 25,000 years ago, although one theory puts their arrival much later.

the dingos current scientific taxonomic classification is Canis lupis dingo, while the grey wolf is classified as Canis lupis, and dogs are Canis lupis familiaris

note that the break down is genus, species then in the case of the dog and dingo subspecies. so, not only are dingos from the same genus, they are scientifically regarded as the same species, just a different sub species than dogs. this is the current accepted scientific taxonomic classification. i agree that classifications change, and there is a small group of 20 or so researchers claiming dingos as a distinct species Canis dingo, yet that is still the same genus "Canis". their argument is based on a few thousand years genetic isolation in Australia. the oldest evidence is a 3500 year old cave art. there is no evidence or even suspicion of significantly earlier arrival. they also point to physical differences based on skull measurements and such. this argument is also fostered by claims that dingo populations that have been genetically polluted through hybridization tend to revert rapidly to look like dingos if the source of hybridization is removed. these are valid arguments but not yet substantiated and accepted widely enough to support a change in the taxonomic classification. the following is just one link that supports the separate species classification.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190305100635.htm

while the above mentioned line of thinking is based on physical attributes and isolation, which has some merit, especially in pre genetic testing days. the current taxonomic classification is supported by significant genetic testing showing enough shared genes between dogs, dingos and wolves to be classified as the same species and all descending from a common ancestor. although a more recent full sequencing of their genomes still shows dogs, dingos and wolves to be from the same ancestor. it showed the dingo and dog to be much closer related to each other than either is to the wolf. one suggested implication of this is that dogs and wolves diverged from each other much longer ago than had been previously accepted. quite possibly through domestication by hunter gatherers. then when dogs were introduced to Australia 3500 some odd years ago by ancient seafarers and became isolated they continued to evolve and adapt through a few thousand years of genetic isolation into the dingo we know today. a distinct species? maybe, but not because they evolved independently on the Australian continent, but because they diverged far enough back to exhibit significant changes. possibly enough to warrant separate species classification. it is interesting to note, if you didnt catch it, that the recent genetic sequencing indicates wolves, dogs and dingos share a common ancestor they all descended from. not necessarily the the wolf is the common ancestor. the following link is just one article along these lines


https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/austropalaeo/2014/05/dawn-of-the-dingo/

genetics and evolution is fascinating, far more interesting and complicated than 4 pea plants...

 

[lenny flank]

there was another dingo stole my baby story from down under a while back. if i recall the authorities didnt believe the parents right off and suspected abouse. i forget how that one turned out.

It turned out it really was a dingo. IIRC they found DNA.

Meryl Streep was in the movie, IIRC.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Sealed with a kiss?

That would be swak.....

 

[tx2sturgis]

Ozzies got dem dang dingos, We got's our crazy chupacabras.....

 

[B and C]

And Bigfoot, not related hopefully.

 

[Ticklebellly]

 what's a "swag"? 

Bedroll.   A cultural term originating in the time when itinerant workers and the homeless walked about the Australian outback with a bedroll slung across their back.    More current versions have an outer of waterproof canvas.   You can thus set up camp by rolling out the swag, building a fire, and putting the billy on to boil.

 

[Ticklebellly]

No Bigfoots in the Gondwana remnant, the Drop Bears killed them off years ago.

 

[highdesertranger]

ah ok thanks. around here it means free stuff.

should I dare to ask about Gondwana and Drop bears?

highdesertranger

 

[Ticklebellly]

Australia is a remnant of the Supercontinent of Gondwana. "Gondwana was the great southern landmass that formed as a result of the division of a much larger supercontinent known as Pangea about 250 million years ago. This Gondwanan supercontinent consisted of present day landmasses: Africa, South America, India, Madagascar, Australia and New Zealand." https://www.google.com/search?q=Sup...a.&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Some of the oldest rocks in the world are found on the surface in parts of Australia.

Drop bears are reputed to be a survivor of an ancient variant of a carnivorous Koala. Australia has a fossil record of carnivorous animals turned herbivorous in the Modern Era. Several unexplained instances of animals being found massively savaged around the neck are attributed to Drop Bear attacks. Local general advice to never camp under large trees is supposedly to protect numpties from falling limbs but the truth is the advice is to avoid Drop Bears landing on you in the night and tearing your throat out. Koalas have claws big enough, sharp enough, and strong enough to allow them to apparently run up large gum trees. A koala climbing a gum will leave big slash marks in the bark. Some disbelievers argue that some drop bear attacks are just a frightened koala falling out of its tree in its normal, eucalyptus oil induced drugged state. However, it is the concentration on massive damage to victim's necks that is not explained. The sounds made by Koalas in the night will have you believing in Drop Bears, quick smart. A Bigfoot would not have has a chance against an adult Drop Bear.

 

[highdesertranger]

fair enough. well I guess I will ask about numpties? highdesertranger

 

[B and C]

Seems to be a whole nuther language down under even if it is called english!